Murder She Wrote
by Gamer21
Summary: COMPLETE! A 5yearold case...a young man who calls from the grave...horrendous crimes on the front page...all from the computer of an imaginative young woman. How did this happen? Please R&R you'll not be denied!
1. Prologue: Five years ago

My fourth project: **Murder She Wrote**. Well, here's a bit of background for the story, so you better read up!

* * *

**_September 18, 2000  
_**_**New Orleans, Louisiana  
**_"_Yo, man, what's up?" a young man of 21 years asked David, adjusting the rims of his glasses to further aid his vision. "Someone's feeling giddy today!"_

"_Of course he is." another man of 20 said callously, brushing his purple locks out of his eyes. "He just got a date with the hottest girl in LSU! How would you feel if- oh, never mind, you're so nerdy that no one would want to go out with you."_

"_Grow up, Robert! Everything will be pretty in its time!"_

"_Right..." Robert said skeptically. "So, David, how does it feel?"_

"_It feels pretty good," David said. "But it's not too surprising, I mean, she is-"_

"_-Only the hottest of the hot anywhere!" the glasses man interrupted. "You are so lucky, David!"_

"_Yeah, but it's nothing really, Thomas. I've known her for a while."_

"_Wha-you've known her?" Thomas blurted out, calling the attention of the other alumni towards them. He said in a milder tone, "You have got to be kidding."_

"_We've played pranks together, Thomas. You know I can't joke."_

"_Yes, but still-"_

"_Hey, he could be." Robert interrupted. "I mean, you are the lead actor in the drama club, for God's sake! How do we know you're not lying?"_

"_You'll have to trust me on this one." David shook his head at the disbelief of his acquaintances, chuckling and muttering all the while. "You're my friends, you weirdoes. You're supposed to trust me."_

"_Fine..." Thomas growled under his breath. "How do you know her?"_

"_We are childhood friends." David explained. "We used to hang out a lot, and back then, we were the tightest friends anyone in Louisiana could think of. Everyone would look at us like we were bloody idiots, but we had a deep bond with each other. It's not that hard to explain, really."_

"_Hey!" a girl's voice yelled. Thomas, Robert and David turned to see a 19-year-old girl run up to them. She was beautiful, busty, and very compassionate; Robert couldn't help but blush and Thomas was drooling incessantly. "Hello, David. How did you fare in the exams today?"_

"_I think I did well, Marie, but I can't be too sure...some of the questions were either too hard or I couldn't understand them." he muttered, massaging his forehead in frustration. "But overall, I think I did well." Marianne's response was to laugh in that melodic voice of hers and clutch David in her arms._

"_Lucky stiff..." Thomas muttered under his breath._

"_Grow up, Thomas!" David warned. "Anyway, Marie, how about we head to Gumbo's in the French Quarter and celebrate, huh?"_

"_That sounds wonderful!" Marianne giggled, causing both Robert and Thomas to swoon._

"_Good. Thomas, Robert, you're welcome to join us."_

"_Thanks for the offer, but I promised Kevin I would teach him how to ride his new bike." Robert muttered unhappily. "That kid is such a tartar, I sometimes wonder if he really is my younger brother..."_

"_I hear that." Thomas said. "I would go too, but I haven't finished that science project for Mr. Kraus yet. He scared the crap out of Toothpick today when he forgot his report today..."_

"_Man, anyone who even likes his class would be insane..." At this point, a young girl of 18 strode up to the group and said sweetly, "Hey David, when are you going to take me out, huh?"_

"_Get out of here!" David growled at the girl. "What are you trying to pull?"_

"_Oh, just something called love, my sweet!"_

"_Grow up, Loretta; he's not changing his mind." Marianne said, making a rude gesture with her left hand._

"_Come on, you can't have him all to yourself! Now, LEGGO!" Loretta's reaction was to pull on David's right arm. This caught Marianne off-guard for a few moments, but she then grabbed his left arm and engaged a bit of 'tug-o-war' with the poor chap until a dark, muscle-bound man of 22 stalked up to them. He was cracking his knuckles, and he didn't like what he saw. Loretta let go, causing Marianne and David to tumble to the ground, and she bawled, "He hurt me, bro! WAH!"_

"_David, you know what happens when you do that..." the man scowled._

"_All talk and no action, huh? I wouldn't put it past you, Ferdinand."_

"_DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT!" Ferdinand yelled, grabbing David by the shirt and slamming him into the school wall. He spit at David and hit his eye, warning him, "If you even so much as harm one of my sister's hairs on her head, the consequences will be rather ghastly, I warn you." With that, he and Loretta casually walked off, but not before she made a rude gesture at Marianne._

"_That girl...she doesn't give up, does she?" Thomas muttered in disgust. "You okay, Dave?"_

"_One: don't call me Dave. And two: I'm still in one piece, am I not?"_

_Robert laughed. "You always could crack a joke or two, even in the face of Death. That's why I like you; you've got inner strength."_

"_Yeah, and Ferdinand there lost his a long time ago." David smirked. He checked his watch, and panicked when he saw the time. "Crap! I still have a job to go to! I'll see you all later!" Everyone waved good-bye to the young man, especially Marianne. "Farewell!"

* * *

_

_Later that night, a man was strolling through the library late at night, searching for a book about Ancient Egypt. Having found one, he was about to read it when a body flew through the window at high speed, shattering the silence, the glass, and the man's mood. Broken glass was strewn about the hall when the man turned to look outside. What was once a car was now barely recognizable when it crashed into a tree outside the library at high speed, possibly 70, 80 miles an hour. It splintered the tree into falling over; the man turned to look at the body and gasped when he looked at his face._

_The young man, with whom Death had paid a visit in that horrendous accident, was the last person anyone thought would be killed. His gray-blue eyes, left open by the cold caress of Death, were so haunting, so shocking, that anyone who saw them would leave with that image forever burned in their minds. David Hanover Clemenceau...he died too young.

* * *

_

_A policeman for the Louisiana Dept. was finished typing up a report concerning the accident. It stated that it was just that: an accident and that David was either drunk or asleep at the wheel. He sighed; this kind of case happened way too often at the city, and he just put the file into the shelves of the police archive, forever identified as this:_

_Sep '00  
__Clemenceau, D.  
__HS-172

* * *

_

Five years have passed ever since this young man was killed in an accident, or so everyone thought. Truth would be buried, and so would the evidence for five long years. Since then, lands have stretched and skewed, rotated and flipped over, and contorted into the world of Nintendo today. As a young woman decides to take up writing mystery stories for a hobby, soon the crimes she types up become twisted reality as the details become eerily similar to that case left unsolved for five years...Now the case heats up as witnesses are interviewed, suspects surfacing, friends become foes, and secrets thought to be long buried are hastily yanked from their graves. Never before has anything of the sort occurred...until now. As this young man cries for justice from the grave, many events, some comical and some gruesome, are pieced together until the final picture of his death is complete and the murderer discovered. Time waits for no man, and neither does what you will read in the next few chapters as the wheels of fate begin to turn for one young woman...

And so it begins...at the Smash Mansion on the southeastern peninsula of the Smash Island, everything begins.


	2. Brutal Assassination

Well, well, here's chapter 2 of **Murder She Wrote** for your enjoyment! And before I begin, if you don't understand why there are different people in this story, read my other one, **New Smasher on the Block** for more details, okay? And just to clear up any confusion...here's the list of game characters that were added to the usual roster of 26.

Lilina (Fire Emblem)  
Sheeda (Fire Emblem)  
Krystal (Starfox)  
Slippy (Starfox)

**Responses:**

**_Gunpowder Wizard_**: Sorry. When I was typing this chapter up, I was trying to finish my _Amazing Race_ story, which was near completion at the time. I didn't have time to type up the next chapter for _New Smasher on the Block! _It should be okay now, though, so hope you like!

**_Psie_**: Yes, you will...

**_ShebytheDogDemoness_**: Hmm...Peach and Zelda aren't the writers...just read on to find out, okay?

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Wait, I wasn't making Link smart? What the-

**_Anters_**: I hope so...this is my first attempt at mystery!

* * *

**Present Day: The Smash Mansion Computer Lab**

_G. F. McLeod said in his gruff voice, "Who do you think committed this crime?" He pointed to the body on the floor, mutilated and covered in blood._

"_I don't know..." Inspector F.R. Lombardo remarked. "But this poor girl was decapitated and raped soon after, judging by the 'bodily fluids' surrounding the body." He took a sidelong glance to the poor girl's head, several feet away from the body and bleeding messily like a pig._

"_This guy's sick..." McLeod noted with scorn and disgust. He then said, "Now, something seems out of place here...search the scene! Leave nothing unturned! Something tells me this was more than just a thrill kill!"_

_After thoroughly examining the body and its head, the M.E., BOB, said in a monotonous robotic tone, "Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head. The decapitation and the rape occurred after, possibly not in that order."_

"_I thought so..." McLeod looked out the window and saw all kinds of news reporters and vans at the apartment, staring single-mindedly at the door. "Load 'er up and get her out." Stepping outside, they were greeted by a platoon of camera flashes, struggling reporters and police who kept the peace as the body was stored in the medical van. McLeod just sighed, annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

* * *

_

"Aw, man!" Krystal shook her head in frustration at the stupid computer. "The keyboard got stuck again..." She made a futile effort to unstick the 'N' key on the keyboard, but made the problem worse. Krystal was one of the newest Smashers to fill the roster at the famed Super Smash Brothers Tournament. A vixen with azure fur, she was the StarFox teams' newest recruit, as well, but she and Fox went back to their adventures together on planet Sauria. She liked Fox; she imagined him to be more than a friend, although she often wondered if Fox himself thought they were more than that. She pushed some of her sapphire bangs out of her turquoise eyes, and muttered, "This is starting to bug me. I wonder if Master Hand bought these at a flea market or something..." Finally conceding to the keyboard, she unplugged it altogether from the CPU, inadvertently pulling out some of the computer's metal innards with it. "Oh dear! This thing is old..."

"What's old?" Fox asked, setting his head on Krystal's shoulder. Krystal nearly fell out of her chair. "What's up?"

"Fox!" Krystal protested. "Don't do that! You scared me..."

"Sorry." Fox smiled a crooked grin. "What are you doing?"

"No-nothing!" Krystal yelped, covering the computer screen with her arms. "It's nothing, really..."

"Oh, come on!" Fox tried to move her arms out of the way, but to no avail. "The more you hide it, the more I want to see it!"

"Let GO!" Krystal tried to push Fox away using her foot, but Fox didn't budge an inch. Instead, he pushed her out of the way and glued his face to the screen, grinning crookedly. He snickered somewhat as he began to glance over the computer document. "Shut up, Fox...I'm just trying to do something meaningful for once..."

"Okay, one: you _are _important to the team, so don't even _think_ that." Fox emphasized. "And two: this is actually kind of interesting, with you writing mysteries and all."

"Thanks..."

"So, I noticed the characters' names: G. F. McLeod and F. R. Lombardo. What's that about?"

"I based the main characters on you and Falco." Krystal replied sweetly, pecking Fox in the cheek. "I thought it would be interesting to see how this would happen if you two were detectives."

"Sounds cool. Let me see it so far if you ever finish typing." Fox jokingly pointed to the keyboard plug Krystal was holding in her hand.

"Fox..." Krystal shook her head in disapproval and laughed. After Fox left, she moved to the 'administrator' computer (Master Hand's personal comp.), tossed out the keyboard in the trash, watched it break into a billion pieces upon contact, logged in using her name, and accessed the file from the old and began to type again.

* * *

_McLeod just sighed, and said in a resigned tone, "They better not get in our way." No such luck was on his side. Reporters besieged him with various questions, and he was trying to get to the van when a reporter shoved his mike into his face._

"_Do you think this is an inside job?" he asked, "I mean, she was the mayor of France City and all..."_

"_At this point, any guess would be a dangerous one."_

"_Some people think this is a conspiracy." A second reporter asked. "Do you think so?"_

"_I'm saying over what I said before: any guess at this point would be a dangerous one." McLeod said unemotionally._

"_Man, let's get out of here before

* * *

_

"Krystal!" She groaned and noticed Zelda standing in the doorway. "Um, do you know where Link is?"

"Do you like him?"

"Do you have to answer my question with another?" Krystal frowned, and Zelda admitted, "Well, I think he's quite a catch...hee hee..."

Krystal grinned. "Good for you, Zelda. Go get him. And no, I haven't seen him around."

"Okay..." Zelda wistfully sighed, but then noticed the computer screen. "Whatcha doing?"

"Eh...I'm trying my hand at mystery novels." Krystal said. She invited Zelda over to the computer, where she languidly glanced over the material. "What do you think?"

"Hmm...it starts nice...I just saw the book cover. Publish it; you might end up on the Best Sellers List."

"Thanks." She continued on after the Hylian princess left.

* * *

"_Man, let's get out of here before we're swamped by news vans." Lombardo said. Hopping into the hatchback, he and McLeod sped off, nearly running down a reporter in the process. "I don't like this. Something ain't right."_

"_Your gut tellin' you this?" McLeod asked._

"_Yep."_

"_Then something must be wrong." McLeod said. "Why did this guy murder Mayor Dorian in the first place, anyway? Was she doing something illegal, or was it something else?"_

"_If you ask me, I think it was a misguided supporter of Candidate Edgar Simms." Lombardo reacted. "Several people were cheesed off when he didn't win the election."

* * *

_

"What's that?" Krystal fell out of her chair in shock, and turned to meet Link's blue eyes, as deep in color as sapphires. "You are typing something?"

"Don't do that!" Krystal yelled, and Link merely burst out in laughter. "What do you want?"

"Just tell me what you're doing on the computer, Krystal. It's not like it's anything bad or something."

"Fine, but if you laugh..." Link glanced it over, and he nodded.

"It looks nice...you've set the scene for this book quite nicely." Link mulled. "You also made good detective characters...they seem indifferent, though. Try adding more personality to them...you also need to try the practice of foreshadowing in this mystery book of yours."

"Fore-what?"

"Foreshadowing." Link repeated. "You plant some subtle clues and some not so subtle in different parts of the story to heighten the suspense and give a portent of the things to come. For example, in a play with five acts, if a gun is presented to us in Act One, it should go off before or during Act Three, do you understand?"

"I think so..." Krystal said.

"Also, try to make the killer(s) sound real. Build a psychological profile about the guy: did he have a surrogate father, high school dropout, schizophrenic, etc, etc. That also helps in making a good mystery shine." Link bid the blue fox farewell and pranced off in search of the Hylian princess. Krystal just sighed and continued on.

"He can sometimes sound nagging..."

"I heard that!" Link shouted from the hallway.

* * *

"_But do you really think that one of his supporters would do something like that?" McLeod asked the surrogate Lombardo. "It doesn't look it." Only one thing came out of Lombardo after that:_

"_Whatever the case may be, don't leave any theory unchecked." It was an uncomfortably silent ride back to the station after the discussion.

* * *

_

Krystal smiled; she enjoyed using her adventures on StarFox and Sauria to help her think of ideas. Satisfied with the day's work, she saved the document and shut off the computer, and sneaked up to her room afterwards.

* * *

Awakening with the burning sensation of the sun on her face, Krystal sluggishly strolled over to the bathroom with a towel and toothbrush. Taking care of her morning chores, she made her way to the cafeteria, where several of the Smashers were huddled over a newspaper. Wondering what the fuss was about, she walked over, where Fox, Zelda and Link were staring intently at the local paper. "What's up, guys?"

"Krystal...you do remember the story you were writing, correct?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I think there's something you should look at..." Link said, grabbing the newspaper and pushing it into her arms.

"I don't like this...your written events in the bookis too similar to the news in this morning's article..." Fox pointed to the front page of the _Smash Island Gazette_, the local newspaper for the island country.

"What's all this about my book?" Krystal asked while sipping at some coffee. She nearly gagged at the news when she read it, though.

**BRUTAL ASSASSINATION AT MAYOR'S HOUSE! POSSIBLE CONSPIRACY!**

_Her butler Andrew James, 42, was telling the officers, "I want to leave...it was so horrific." He was talking about the discovery of the body of Cheryl Rogue, 35; the mayor of Nelson's Landing. The politician was discovered early this morning at two-thirty beheaded, mutilated and naked as the police try to search for the killer. No one knows how this happened, but sources say this could be part of a conspiracy by terrorists to overthrow the Smash Island's government. The police are currently investigating this matter, and all citizens with possible leads should call Crime Stoppers at 285-5555._


	3. The Crime Scene

Well, well. This story is getting interesting. What's with the story, huh? You'll find out in due time...and I'm telling you all of this from a goddamn hospital bed, but not in real life. LegoMan727...I will get my revenge! (shows large bump from hammer whack)

**Responses:**

**_Gunpowder Wizard_**: Yes. If the people believe in white noise, then it is real because people believe in that. Very profound...

**_Anters_**: I'm glad to see that!

**_Ri2_**: Like I said before, everything will be revealed in due time, my friend.

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Don't worry. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. And now that I think about it, Link's saying that he has a brain sounds like something the scarecrow in _Wizard of Oz_ would say.

**_ShebytheDogDemoness_**: It is, as they say, hinky. Don't worry, things won't stay that way for long.

**_LegoMan727_**: Why, thank you! And of course you can use the avatar. You already have a description of me in my _Amazing Race _story, so here's a little rundown on my personality, for reference:

I'm kind, compassionate, and polite; I make friends easily, and my favorite character in Tales of Symphonia is Colette. I am eccentric at times. I also command respect and decency, but I will fly into a rage if either is lacking. I have a tendency to be vulgar in use of language if I get mad.

Side note: I tend to fall down the stairs a lot.

* * *

**The Derringer Plantation House, Nelson's Landing**

"Why did we come here?" Fox complained as his nose was burned by the overwhelming stench of mud. The land surrounding the mansion the mayor called home was surrounded by mud, unstable ground, marshy creeks, everlasting cypress and the occasional gator jumped out at its prey. Fox, Krystal, Link and Zelda had decided to help the police in their investigation and was now walking on a boardwalk running over the marsh. "This is so sick-looking..."

"I told you to stay home if you didn't want to come!" Krystal snapped, balling her hand into a fist. "I warned you this would be messy..."

"Even then, this place is almost uninhabitable." Link noted with scorn. "The land's too marshy, the water unclean and the air is thick with decaying plant matter."

"What I don't get is why the killer didn't dump the body into the bayous." Zelda said. "It would have sunk like a stone in this crap."

"Maybe the murderer was in a rush." Link answered. "At any rate, we've reached our destination." He pointed ahead of them to an opulent manor, sparkling white in the sunlight and framed by cypresses that seemed to caress the house. Krystal would have found it beautiful if cops hadn't roped off the scene and worming around the grounds. "Act cool, okay?"

"I know what we're doing." Krystal strolled up to the officer next to the gate, and asked, "Can we see the crime scene?" She also pulled out a laminated card and showed it to the officer.

"You must be the NLPD advisor." He said. "Go on in- hey, who are these people?" He pointed to Link, Zelda and Fox.

"They're my crew." She answered.

"Very well. Pass boss." Fox was stunned, to say the least.

"How did you do that?"

"It's a bit of a long story..." Krystal said.

* * *

_Flashback: 2 Hours Before Arrival_

"_You've got to believe me, Master Hand; this is just like what happened in the book I'm writing!" Krystal was voicing her case to Master Hand and Crazy Hand (the latter of whom began to boil water with a welding torch) and was also showing them the document on the computer she wrote last night. "I'm telling you, this is too much of a coincidence to be just that!"_

"_I don't know..." Master Hand said._

"_Just look in the paper and compare the two. You'll see." Master Hand grabbed the newspaper from Crazy Hand (who unknowingly set himself on fire with said welding torch) and compared the main article with the document._

"_This is rather disturbing...and you wrote this?"_

"_It's my first shot at mystery, okay?" Krystal snapped. "I never expected this to happen, though! Just let me-"_

"_Very well...here's a pass." Master Hand said. "I'll also tell the NLPD (**N**elson's **L**anding **P**olice** D**epartment) that you're an advisor for them."_

"_Thank you! And tell Crazy Hand he's on fire. Literally." She strolled out of the chambers while Crazy Hand was running around in an erratic pattern in a futile attempt to put himself out. Master Hand sighed and threw water on him, which abruptly ended the inferno but left Crazy Hand as black as a moonless night in winter._

"_Ouch..." Crazy Hand said.

* * *

_

"Well, if that isn't like Crazy Hand..." Fox said. "I hope he doesn't burn down the mansion..."

"I don't think he will." Link and the others strolled through the plantation and made their way to the family room. The once-beautiful white walls were now stained with streaks and splatters of blood. A human head, scalped and devoid of skin, was lying near the entrance, and Zelda nearly fainted at such a sight. In the recliner, a naked body of a female was bruised, battered and bloodied, and left in such a horrendous position that Link nearly puked. "By Farore's Wind... what the hell happened here?"

"I don't like this..." Krystal said. "It's even worse than in my book!"

"You the advisors?" an officer matter-of-factly asked. Getting a series of nods from the four, he explained, "Okay, so here's what we got: the mayor was discovered at 2:30 am in this state, and there's blood all over the walls."

"We can see that, officer." Zelda replied. "So why are we here?"

"Well, we frankly need a second opinion." The officer answered. "So, you have any experience in criminology or investigation?"

"Um...no, but we can tell if something's hinky..." Link replied, muttering, '_Geez, Krystal, you could've at least known about this..._'

"Meh, close enough." The officer said, surprising the Hero of Time. "Oh... and here's some basic software and equipment for you." He handed them a bunch of compact disks with various crime scene software, a luminal gun, some cotton swabs, etc, etc. "Just don't mess it up too badly, okay?"

"Fine..." Krystal and the others soon got to work on the crime scene. She herself got to work on the dead body; it was carved through with a knife and almost impossible to tell the cause of death. She then decided to look over the condition of the body, and noticed something sticking out of the body's privates. Removing a pair of tweezers from the crime kit, she pulled out a male pubic hair (yes, I said pubic hair. Shut up.) from the remains and stuffed it into a small plastic bag.

Link had taken to examining the blood spatters staining the walls and noted with scorn some of the various cracks in the wall near one particular blood spatter, as if someone was trying to destroy that part of the wall. With a hint of curiosity, he swabbed down all of the blood on the wall and placed it into a bag before starting up the stairwell to the second floor of the mansion.

Fox, meanwhile, had faintly smelled blood somewhere in the manor, and it wasn't from the walls. Following his nose, he wound up at the kitchen, where an officer was searching the fridge for some food. He laughed somewhat and wormed over to the sink, where he thought the smell of blood was the strongest. Grabbing a flashlight, his senses hadn't betrayed him: the lining of the drainpipe was stained crimson with blood. Grabbing a wrench, he unscrewed the pipe from its place under the sink and casually dropped it into a bag, continuing his search for clues.

Zelda had taken to skimming over the witness' account of the murder; she sighed as she mulled over all kinds of documents, statements, bills, anything that would give them a lead. Finding nothing of any use, she told Krystal: "There's nothing here that looks suspicious, nor are there any ambiguities in the witness' statement."

"I found the sink's drainpipe full of blood." Fox replied, holding up the rusty metal pipe. "I'll have it tested later to see if it is the victim's blood."

"I found this...um...hair in the victim's you-know-whats." Krystal muttered matter-of-factly. "It looks like every detail in my book matches this murder."

"How disturbing..." Zelda said, shivering from fright.

"Um, GUYS?" Link shouted from the second floor balcony. "I found something you might want to look at..." Tramping up the stairs, they followed Link's voice to a room in the mayor's chambers that was covered in newspaper clipping. "What do you make of this?"

"And you're calling my room messy..." Fox quipped as he picked up some of the newspaper strewn about the floor.

"Let's see... '_May 13, 1979-September 18, 2000: David Hanover Clemenceau- a young man who will never be forgotten._'" Link read. "Sounds like something from the Obituaries column..."

"Wait, read me the name again." Zelda commanded, scrutinizing one of the clippings.

"David Hanover Clemenceau...what are you getting at, Zel?"

"Look at this article." Zelda said as the other three peered over her shoulder. "'_On September 18, 2000, just before midnight, cops were called to the Terradiddle Public Library in downtown New Orleans because of a car crash that sent the driver, 21-year-old David Clemenceau, hurdling through the window and killing him on impact._'"

"The mayor was interested in his death." Krystal realized, putting a hand to her mouth in surprise.

* * *

"_This is a surprise..." G. F. McLeod said as they were greeted by two people outside the station, a boy and a girl. The young man was 17, with blonde hair and blue eyes rimmed by a monocle in his left eye. The girl was 15, with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as the first, except she had a gold headband running across her forehead. "Who are you two?"_

"_I apologize for this unexpected assignment, but Chief Andrews assigned the two of us to aid you in your investigation." The young man replied. "I'm Lucas, and this is Sharice." He motioned to the girl, who waved._

"_Well, I certainly didn't expect this..." F. R. Lombardo replied. "Do you have any experience in the field?"_

"_Well, I can aid in interrogations." Sharice replied. "And Lucas here worked as an apprentice to a forensic investigator."_

"_Good enough." Lombardo replied. "Welcome aboard."_

"Hey, Krystal!" Link yelled from the doorway of the computer lab. "Dr. Mario has the autopsy results in!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Krystal answered, saving her work and logging off the computer.

* * *

"The-a cause of death-a was blunt force trauma to the head-a." Dr. Mario explained, pointing to where a bit of the muscle on the head was purple. "The-a killer-a then raped the dead body and de-a-capitated it soon after, shaving-a off the flesh."

"Why _do_ they do that?" Krystal asked.

"Some killers don't want their victims to be identified..." Link stated.

"Anyway-a, the dental records-a do identify the-a body as Cheryl Rogue, the-a mayor of Nelson's Landing." Dr. Mario replied.

"Yo, whaddaya all doin'?" The group turned to see the ever-cocky Falco Lombardi standing in the doorway of the medical lab. "Whazzup?"

"Um, this." Dr. Mario showed him the head of the deceased mayor.

"HEY!" Falco winced. "Don't show me that shit! I ain't eaten lunch yet!"

"Sorry." Krystal replied. "We're investigating a murder, and Dr. Mario just finished up the autopsy. Do you want to help?"

"Might as well, since you killed my appetite with that shit..." Falco stood next to Fox, and Dr. Mario continued his lecture.

"As I-a said, the-a cause of death-a is blunt force trauma, but I discovered an unusual fracture in-a the skull." Dr. Mario placed an X-ray on the lights, and it showed a side view of the skull with a weird crater in it. "See?"

"Whoa, hold da phone..." Falco snatched the X-ray and stared intently at the skull fracture. "Looks like something hard and narrow was forced into the skull, like a crowbar...see how the fracture is all narrow?"

"Hey, you're-a right..." Dr. Mario said. "I'll-a look this-a over, you-a all get some-a lunch or something, okay-a?"

"Not very likely..." Falco muttered.

* * *

Krystal, Fox, Falco, Link and Zelda sat together during lunch to discuss the case.

"What I don't get is all the newspaper we found in the mayor's room." Fox wondered. "Why did she have all those newspaper crap?"

"Maybe she had some kind of doubt about the death?" Zelda questioned. "It's rather weird for someone to be obsessed over someone's death..."

"Yes, but we're interested in the why." Link replied. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to see an angry Saria bearing down on them. "Um, yes?"

"Why are you sitting with them, huh?" Saria demanded. She was a new recruit in the tournament, and predominantly used nature-type spells. She was sweet and outgoing, but you wouldn't want to get her mad. "Do you hate us?"

"No, it's not like that..." Link sweatdropped. "We're investigating something..." After she left, he sighed. "I don't know if we can keep this a secret any longer..."

"I'm confused at the place, quite frankly." Krystal replied. "I mean, what kind of a name is New Orleans?"

"Maybe dey was 'igh on pot when dey named da place." Falco said.

"I don't know..." At this point, Master Hand unusually burst into the cafeteria, scaring the crap out of some of the Smashers.

"Krystal!" he bellowed. "You and the others better come with me. Dr. Mario wants you to see something."

"What's going on?" Krystal asked, as they rushed on over to the medical lab.

* * *

"You WHAT!" Krystal yelled.

"I-a had managed to lift a partial-a fingerprint off of the body." Dr. Mario replied. "It's-a on the screen. Also-a, the-a blood from the destroyed wall-a that Link got-a had two-a sets of DNA."

"One was of the mayor, and one was unknown." Falco said.

"Exactly." Dr. Mario said.

"But what of the accident case?" Zelda asked. "It was odd to see all those newspaper in her room..."

"Accident?" Master Hand asked.

"She was interested in an accident case from 5 years ago, in New Orleans." Link explained. "But we have no idea where to start..."

"Try going back to Nelson's Landing." Master Hand said.

"But why?" Fox asked. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Yeah!" Krystal said. "What are you trying to pull, huh?" The next five words Master Hand said would surprise and shock all in his presence:

"Nelson's Landing **is** New Orleans."


	4. The Legend of Nintendo

Here's chapter 4 of **Murder She Wrote **for your enjoyment, folks!

**Responses:**

**_Gunpowder Wizard_**: ...oops. I forgot about that...DON'T SUE! And what do you mean by "pulling a Matrix on you?"

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Ok, now I'm curious. What _is_ your name, anyway, even though you said you wouldn't tell in your profile? I'm very curious...

**_Anters_**: Of course. This is what happens when you watch lots of CSI.

* * *

"What do you mean; Nelson's Landing is New Orleans?" Link's eyebrows shot up.

"I am saying over what I said before: Nelson's Landing is New Orleans!" Master Hand said, this time rather forcefully.

"But how can that be possible?" Krystal asked.

"Just meet me in the study and I'll explain everything." Master Hand then walked...er, floated...out the door and left the crime crew with mixed reactions.

"That was interesting." Zelda replied.

"So-a, you want me to-a pull David's file-a?" Dr. Mario asked.

"That would be really helpful, thanks." Fox answered. "So, what now?"

"Maybe we should hear Master Hand's side of the story." Krystal told the others. "This New Orleans thing sounds really interesting."

"To the study, then." When everyone tramped out of the room, Dr. Mario and Falco were the only two left.

"You-a will help me with finding the-a file?" Dr. Mario asked off-handedly.

"Eh...no...I'm waiting for you to finish up and get movin'!" Falco said, rather harshly.

"Okay-a, okay-a, geez! Don't-a bite my head off-a..." Dr. Mario muttered, covering up the body with a sheet, and throwing off his autopsy gloves. "You-a need to be more patient."

"Well, sorry!" Falco said, with some theatrics and sarcasm.

* * *

By the time Falco had caught up to their friends, they were already gathered outside the study door. "Where were you two, huh?" Link asked.

"Yeah!" Zelda added. "We were supposed to be inside five minutes ago!"

"I thought that we should all go in together." Krystal said.

"Fine..." Falco muttered impatiently. "Whaddawe waitin' for? Go in already!"

Stepping through the large, ornate doors, the group stepped into a dimly lit room, the only light coming from the large fire that crackled and roared in the fireplace at the other end of the room. It was rather dark, but there was enough light from the fire to help the group see what they were walking into. The study was a room lined with bookshelves on the wall to their left, and in the center wall was a fireplace with various oddities and trinkets upon its mantel. A large painting of Master Hand and Crazy Hand, blackened by the smoke over time, hung over the fireplace. On the far-right wall were more bookshelves, but they alternated with glass boxes set with a small table underneath them; they served as display cases for the trophies they had amassed. A small writing desk with a lamp stood in the upper-right corner, and several chairs were scattered around the room. Master Hand was seated in an armchair facing the fireplace, which was roaring and crackling as if there was no such thing as tomorrow in its book. Krystal had taken up to seating herself in a nearby recliner, and told the giant glove, "We're here."

"Ah, good." Master Hand said jovially, snapping on the lights and putting out the fire in a blaze of glory. He swiveled around in the chair so that he was facing the entrance, and said, "Sit down, my friends. We have much to learn about the history of Nintendo."

Link was really confused at this point, but he held out a chair for Princess Zelda as the other people settled down in the other chairs around the room. Krystal blushed a little when Fox scooted over next to her. Watching Dr. Mario and Falco vie for a chair, she was really glad she bagged the recliner before it had occurred to anyone else to sit down. Master Hand cleared his throat (does he have one?) and started to speak in his familiar lecturing tone.

"Well, this tale starts about five years ago, a little after the accident case you uncovered." He began. "This planet, Nintendo, was once known by another name: Earth."

"Earth?" Zelda asked.

"Yes." Master Hand continued, "Earth was a beautiful planet: lush forests, beautiful oceans, and illustrious cities. But there was trouble lurking below its surface."

"Whoa, what do you mean?" Falco asked.

"I'm getting to that!" Master Hand said irritably. "Anyway, what was going on was the destruction the planet was suffering. Cities were razed by war; the forests were being cut down for growth, the oceans had all kinds of crap being dumped into it, and the people were, for lack of a better word, insensitive to the damage their planet was suffering."

"How terrible..." Krystal said.

"Yes, and the planet's situation had gone from bad to worse over the next few days. You see, the planet's core was becoming somewhat unstable, and-"

"Somewhat-a?" Dr. Mario asked skeptically.

"Okay, okay! It was fucked up! The core, I mean." Master Hand corrected. "At this time, weird phenomena started occurring. For example, geothermal forces killed all the fish and living things in Chesapeake Bay. The Millau Viaduct in France collapsed for no reason at all. Then, things went from bad to worse."

"How could things possibly get any worse?" Link asked. "I mean, everything dying and bridges collapsing? I don't think things can get any worse..."

"Well, they did." Master Hand muttered. "The economy was, pardon the expression, going south. The stock market in New York crashed, leaving people in a worldwide economic slump. Millionaires lost their fortunes overnight. Meanwhile, the core was becoming more and more unstable, and scientists thought the only way it would become stable is if the excess energy was released in a huge torrent of terrifying natural disasters. Unfortunately, this grisly fate came true the second the ball dropped in New York City, signaling in the year 2001."

"What happened?" Fox asked.

"The world was destroyed in a single night."

"Gee, this-a sounds familiar-a. Why does it-a remind me of Rogueport-a?" The troupe and Master Hand turned to see Mario standing in the doorway. "Are you-a telling the-a legend of Rogueport-a?"

"No, it's the legend of Nintendo." Master Hand corrected. "Want to listen?"

"Sure-a..." Mario replied, sitting in a ladder used to reach the books on the higher shelves.

"Anyway, great earthquakes shook apart the world. They were so strong that entire islands sank into the seas that very night. Cities like San Francisco, London, Paris and New York City itself were reduced to nothing but rubble. Tornadoes popped up in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, leveling both to the ground. Entire islands like Madagascar sank into the seas without any warning."

"That doesn't sound good..." Link replied.

"You-a said it!" Mario agreed.

"Also, many more people were killed in the earthquakes and the destructions of the cities." Master Hand noted. "Anyway, tsunamis tore through the coastlines of many continents, but the hardest hit was southeast Asia. Hong Kong, for instance, was reduced to nothing but metal shells because of tsunamis."

"I don't like where this is going..." Fox said.

"After that, thunderstorms rattled the world and took it by storm, destroying all that the earthquakes and tsunamis hadn't." Master Hand continued. "For example, a thunderbolt struck the Coliseum in Rome so hard that in split the arena into billions of stone blocks that decimated the entire population of just like that." He snapped his fingers.

"May Nayru be praised that we didn't have to live through that..." Link replied.

"Ironically, the people blamed the gods and goddesses for bringing this terrible destruction upon them, when it was their own hand that ruined the planet before the apocalyptic earthquakes began." Master Hand replied as Crazy Hand floated in. "Uh-oh..."

"Aha! Someone said irony!"

"Here-a we go again..." Mario said, rubbing the temple of his forehead with his hand.

"Let's pause to appreciate the irony of drowning in a tiny pool o water when you've got the whole ocean to drown in." Crazy Hand said. He then started humming that annoying music you hear in elevators.

"Someone shut him up!" Falco said.

"How ironic. It's full of irony. The irony is so thick you can cut it with...an irony-cutting device!" Everyone went silent at that; even the crickets weren't chirping. "LAUGH, DAMMIT!" Seeing that no one was, he bawled, "CURSES IS YOUSE!" He then sulked off to find another victim.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Falco had regained his composure faster than the others.

"Who knows?" Krystal said. "Please continue the legend, Master Hand."

"Of course." Master Hand replied. "Now, where was I..., oh, yes! After the natural disasters had come and gone, earthquakes once again shook the land, shattering all seven continents and breaking them apart into pockets of land scattered throughout the planet."

"Holy shit..." Fox said.

"Oh my god..." Zelda breathed, tears forming in her eyes.

"That ain't right!" Link said.

"No, it isn't." Master Hand said. "However, there was still hope for the world, because there were survivors in the world! But many of them were mangled so badly that some of them we-"

"We? What-a do you mean-a, we?" Dr. Mario asked.

"And how do you know so much about what happened to Earth, huh?" Krystal asked accusingly.

"I know because I was one of the scientists who figured out what was happening to Earth." The Smashers gasped. "I was also mangled up after the earthquakes, so the other scientists turned me and my brother into giant, talking hands to save us." The Smashers gasped again. "I also was the one that brought you all here to the tournament."

"Wait, you brought us?" The Smashers turned around, once again, and saw Pikachu's tiny frame in the doorway. "But...how?"

"I really don't know the specifics of it myself." Master Hand admitted. "But from what I understand, you were all living in different dimensions hidden away amongst the time-space continuum. We were able to bend it and observe you all by doing that, which leads to the next part of my tale."

"Which is...?" Pikachu asked.

"It is the rebuilding of Earth and how it transformed into the world of Nintendo." Master Hand said.

"Oh, tell us more!" Pikachu asked, curling up in Zelda's lap.

"Of course I will." Master Hand continued, "Anyway, the technology we had was able to bring your homelands and place them in the pockets of land scattered around the earth. Some lands had cities that were barely touched from the world destruction, so we used those as the capital of the lands we brought in from the different dimensions."

"That explains the bright light that we saw 4 years ago..." Link said. "It must have been when you were bring our land into Earth and placing them on the remains of the seven continents."

"That's right." Master Hand said. "For example, one of the few surviving structures after the great apocalypse was the Defense Work castle in Quebec. We used that and Lake Erie, which also survived the apocalypse, to form the modern-day land of Hyrule."

"Whoa!" Pikachu replied. "That's so cool!"

"We also used the surviving structures to our advantage when forming Nintendo." Master Hand continued. The remains of Australia became the Mushroom Kingdom and Rogueport. As a matter of fact, the two mountains on Keelhaul Key and Lavalava Island were the two halves of Ayers Rock. Eagleland was formed from the remains of the province of Ontario in Canada. Plus, Toronto looks so much like Fourside."

"That's-a so cool!" Mario said.

"I know." If Master Hand had eyes, you'd see quite a few twinkles in them. "At any rate, we used the remains of Africa to form Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. Corneria was formed from what was left of Hong Kong, along with Shanghai in China and Kuala Lampur in Malaysia."

"Holy crap...so that's how Corneria was formed..." Fox gaped in disbelief.

"Let's see...also, Yoshi's Island and DK Isles were formed from what was left of South America." Master Hand continued. "The jungles in Peru and the Aztec ruins there helped in the formation of both lands. Mute City was formed from the city of Dubai in the Middle East-"

"That explains why Captain Falcon acted like a terrorist in the _Amazing Race_." Falco said. Everyone had to laugh at this.

"Yeah." Master Hand said. "Three special lands we had a challenge with were Lycia, Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."

"How did you handle that?" Zelda asked.

"Well, we used mainly what was left of Asia and southern Europe to create Sylvarant. Besides, the port of Kaminia in Greece looked so much like Palmacosta." Master Hand said. "The city of St. Petersburg, in Russia, became Flanoir in Tethe'alla, and we used up part of Russia and eastern Europe to form that particular land. We used what was left of Europe to form Lycia." Master Hand sighed, and then said, "But one piece of land caught our attention when all was said and done: a small island left of what was the southern coastline of Louisiana. The city of New Orleans was perched there; I used that small island to build a small empire-"

"-which became the Smash Island." Link finished.

"That also explains how a city has two different names." Krystal reported. "Master Hand changed the name to Nelson's Landing."

"That's correct, my friends...and that is the Legend of Nintendo and the Smash Island." Master Hand finished. "Does that clarify things for you?"

"Yes, it does..." Fox replied. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Master Hand said. "I suggest you get back to your crime solving, though. Just remember what I told you."


	5. Excursion Into The Past

Well, here's the next chapter for your enjoyment...here you go! Shout-out to Nintendo Nut1!

**Responses:**

**_Ri2_**: Sounds like someone's brain is on the fritz...

**_ExuroFlamma_**: You know, not everything in a fan fiction has to be proven true with science or facts. That's what makes it **fan fiction**, and it more importantly creates the fine line between fantasy and reality. Super Smash Brothers is begot of nothing but fantasy. I mean, sure I have to be careful with things when I type up the story in terms of criminology and forensic science, but that doesn't prevent me from having some fun while I write! Fantasy doesn't need a point, and if you don't lose yourself in that fantasy when you're writing, you'll never have any fun!

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Hey, update is now.

**_Anters_**: Well, that's good.

BTW, here are the Smashers and their book counterparts:

Fox-McLeod, lead detective  
Falco-Lombardo, crime scene investigator  
Link-Lucas, forensics  
Zelda-Sharice, interrogation  
Dr. Mario-Dr. Martinez, medical examiner  
Krystal-Karen, Ballistics and Trace

* * *

"Well, that's just great..." Link muttered after rejoining everyone in the medical labs. "That case file might've been destroyed in that great apocalypse!"

"Talk about some bad luck..." Falco muttered.

"Well-a, I-a can't do anything about-a the cold case unless-a I have a file-a." Dr. Mario replied. Everyone just sighed in defeat, and the good doctor replied, "Let's-a just solve-a this murder for-a now."

"Oh, yeah, I just remembered something." Fox replied. "That new restaurant in Nelson's Landing is opening today."

"You mean that chicken and ribs place?" Krystal asked.

"That's it...I promised the chef, Gumbo, that I would attend its grand opening today."

"Fox! What on earth did you do that for?" Zelda asked, one eyebrow raised and the other scrunched in curiosity.

"Look, the guy's a family friend, okay?" Fox answered. "My father and Gumbo were old poker buddies. I'd sometimes come along and play at the pachinko tables he had at his house, so it's only fair I come to the gala of the restaurant."

"I think that's very nice of you, Fox." Krystal replied. "Can I come?"

"He said I could bring as many friends I wanted, so why not?" Fox replied.

"Yay!"

"Does-a he cook a mean-a chicken?" Dr. Mario asked.

"Yep. His food's really good."

"I'm-a in!" Dr. Mario chanted, removing his blood-stained gloves and putting a scalpel on the metal tray. "I-a need some-a soul food right now-a."

"Meh, might as well come along...that food's gotta be better than what the crap-geezer cooked up." Falco replied.

"We'd better come along too." Link replied, with the Hylian princess in his arms. "There's no sense wasting an infinite invite to a restaurant."

"Sure...let's go there right now; I'm starving..." Fox replied, grabbing some keys and worming over to the garage.

* * *

**Gumbo's Chicken and Ribs, Nelson's Landing**

"Mmm...this is really good." Link replied, biting into a chicken drumstick. The chef, Gumbo, was grinning ear-to-ear.

"Ah, thank you for the compliments." He replied in a deep Southern accent.

"I told you his food was good!" Fox said.

"No kidding." Falco replied, swallowing some garlic potatoes. "Your friend's a good cook."

"Mmm...yummy!" Zelda said. "I'm glad to have come along with Link..."

"I know." Fox decided to spy out what was happening at the other tables. One had a couple eating (and feeding each other, he noted with a hint of disgust), another had several kids who were playing and not much else, a third had a moody young woman who was lost in space, and a fourth had a rowdy character that was eating single-mindedly from a series of plates. Across the street, he saw an elderly couple struggle with a series of boxes in a nearby house. "Hey, need some help?"

"What's up?" Link asked, he and Zelda following Fox.

"Oh, thank you." The elderly woman replied. "We bought a new house uptown, so we're taking many boxes of items with us."

"We'd love to help." Zelda replied sweetly.

"Ah, the younger generation isn't as bad as we thought it was." The elderly man said. "I am Kennedy, and that's my wife, Evelyn."

"Hello. I'm Zelda, that's Link and that's Fox."

"Thank you, Zelda. The rest of the stuff is inside." Leading them into the house, Kennedy showed them a stack of boxes piled up in the living room. Link just shrugged and began lifting. Fox took the time to browse at various pictures on the wall, and Zelda was helping Link with some of the heavier boxes. This was the case for 15 minutes until there were few boxes left. "Thank you for your help. You can go now."

"Okay, we'd better-hey, what's this?" Link saw a white box on a high shelf in the house.

"No, wait!" Too late. Link had tried to grab the box, but he stumbled and fell, taking the box and the shelf with him. All fell to the floor in a shower of splinters.

"Oops...sorry."

"Link! I'm sorry for my boyfriend's behavior." Zelda said to Kennedy.

"Yeah, we never meant to..." Fox trailed off and began to read what was scribbled onto the box in magic marker. "What's this?

_Sep '00  
__Clemenceau, D.  
__HS-172_

"Weird." Fox mused. Several bits of information came together in his head, though, and realization soon dawned upon him. "Hey, wait a minute..."

"Doesn't that name sound familiar?" Zelda asked.

"Clemenceau...hey, it's the file for that David person; the one who died in a traffic accident five years ago!" Link realized. He turned, and Kennedy sighed resignedly. "Why do you have this?"

"It's...it's the only thing left to remind me of our son..."

"Wait, so you and Evelyn...?" Zelda began.

"You're David's parents..." Link gasped.

* * *

"So, why do you need this?" Kennedy asked.

"We believe the mayor's assassination may have something to do with your son's death." Fox said matter-of-factly.

Kennedy sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Was there anything that your son did before his death?" Zelda asked.

"None that I know of."

"I know something..." Evelyn said, and Kennedy's eyebrows rose. "It was three days before David's death..."

_FLASHBACK_

_As Evelyn walked up the stairwell to the master bedroom, she thought she heard a moaning sound from David's bedroom. She decided to peek into the bedroom, and David was in his bedroom with a blushing Marianne._

"_David...do you know how much I love you?" the girl asked._

"_I already know..."_

"_I just wanted you to know again...tee hee..."_

"_You know, you're so beautiful when you giggle like that?" David had pressed his lips against the blushing girl and she squeaked when she felt him push against her. But she returned the kiss, letting go of all her fears and worries._

_All this time, Evelyn was watching from the crack in David's door, and she looked somewhat distraught and puzzled._

_END FLASHBACK_

"So, does this girl have a name?" Fox asked, jotting down notes in a memo book.

"I think it was Marianne Langley." Evelyn answered. "She and David were friends since childhood, but I never imagined them to be that close..."

"Well, that's all for now." Link replied, handing Kennedy a card. "We'll be in touch..."

"Wait!" Before Zelda left, Kennedy pressed a photo album into her hands. "David took photos of his friends and put them into this album...I hope you find it useful."

"Thank you..." Zelda said, before rushing out the door of the small house.

* * *

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY!" Falco shouted, calling the attention of the whole restaurant to them.

"Ssh...you're not helping..." Krystal warned.

"Yes-a, you should-a calm down...besides, here-a they come." Dr. Mario pointed to where Link, Zelda and Fox were walking up to the table carrying the white box and a photo album. "What do you have there?"

"You won't believe what we found!" Link said, showing Dr. Mario the case file for David Clemenceau.

"Whoa-a!" Dr. Mario breathed. "We-a must examine-a it at-a once! TO THE MANSION-A!"

"You're a bit loud, aren't you?" Zelda asked.

"Um, excuse me..." The Hylian princess turned to face the moody young woman from table three. "Can I...see that?" She pointed to the photo album.

"Sure..." Zelda replied.

"Speaking of which, why did Kennedy give us that?" Link asked her. Zelda shrugged.

"I don't know...he said it would help in the investigation..."

"Well, if it's evidence, bag it!" Falco said.

"It's MORE than evidence!" the moody woman yelled, sobbing a bit. Her outburst surprised Falco and called the table's attention to the young woman. "At least, to me it is...sniff..."

"To you-a?" Dr. Mario asked skeptically. "What-a the hell are-a you talking about-a?"

"Wait," Zelda whispered to Link. "David's father said he had a girlfriend named Marianne. You don't think...?"

Link was already two steps ahead of her. "So, did you know David or something?" The young woman dried her tears as best she could, and nodded.

"I was in love with him...sniff..."

"Then you're Marianne Langley?" She gasped, and Link explained, "We learned your name from David's parents, who live in a house across the street from here. We're reopening the case because it might have a possible connection to the mayor's assassination."

"You're reopening the case?" Marianne asked.

"We-a are..." Dr. Mario replied.

"...sniff...why did he have to die...? Is it fate's being cruel...?"

"That's what we're trying to find out. Is there anything you can tell us to help?" Krystal asked.

"Well...something did come up at least five days before the school dance...six before his death...and it was like a free-for-all..."

"A what?" Falco asked.

"A free-for-all is when different music is played and different dances can be performed. They sometimes played classical music or dance music and we got trophies based on our performances...I loved those dances." Marianne sighed.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Hee hee hee...that was good!" David told Marianne, smirking a bit. His smirk became a wide grin. "I think we can see another trophy being awarded to us this year!"_

"_Really?" Marianne asked. "I...I didn't do too badly, did I?"_

"_Come on!" David grinned at Marianne, whose heart seemed to melt. "You're being too modest! Besides, you'll do just fine! Just don't get too nervous."_

"_Okay!"_

"_Hey!" The two jumped, and then turned to see Thomas standing beside them. "I can do something you can't accomplish in a million years!"_

"_Really?" David's head cocked in curiosity. "Don't just stand there! Show us!" Thomas then showed David and Marianne his dance, or at least, tried to; he kept tripping and David tried not to laugh, but Marianne wasn't so successful. A little giggle escaped her lips, and Thomas wasn't happy at all._

"_What? Are you laughing?"_

"_Um, no..." Marianne said, trying to hide her laughter._

"_You're laughing, aren't you?" David's eyebrows rose; he had never heard so much anger in anyone's voice before. "I'll show you who will win that trophy, Marianne. I'LL SHOW YOU!" Thomas rushed out of the dance studio, but not before directing a rude gesture with his left hand at Marianne._

"_What on-what a rude thing he did!"_

"_Forget it," David sighed in resignation. "Once he has his mind on something, it's hard to turn him away from it."_

_END FLASHBACK_

"So, who was that man who you set off?" Link asked.

"He's another friend of David's, Thomas McCallister. I almost always teased him, but we'd end up laughing about it." Marianne's expression had softened. "But he seemed so angry when I teased him that time."

Link and Zelda exchanged glances. Fox looked mystified; Krystal and Dr. Mario compared notes. Finally, Falco said, "Thank you, Marianne. We'll need your phone number for further contact, though."

"Here..." She jotted a series of numbers onto a napkin and handed it to Falco.

"Thank you. Come; we'd best be off." Falco replied.

"Thanks for the food, Gumbo!" Fox yelled to his father's friend.

"'Twas nothing. Come back soon!" Gumbo yelled.

* * *

"_So, the M.E. get anything?" Lombardo asked McLeod off-handedly._

"_Well, we have a new M.E., so I really can't say..."_

"_New M.E.?" Lombardo's eyebrows rose._

"_Yeah." McLeod said. "Lucas said his name was Dr. Martinez or something. I wouldn't know what-oof!" He ran into someone carrying several boxes stacked on top of each other, and both persons fell as boxes flew all over the room. He was about to curse the person when it turned out to be a very beautiful girl with short blue hair. "Oops...I-I'm sorry about that..."_

"_No, I'm the one who should be apologizing..." the azure vision answered. "Oh! You're Detective McLeod, aren't you?"_

"_Yes, I am?"_

"_I'm Karen." The blue-haired girl replied. "I'm working in Trace, and I hope to not let you down!"_

"_Oh, okay." As the girl walked off with the boxes, Lombardo turned to stare at the detective, who had zoned out. "McLeod...McLeod? YO!"_

"_What? Oh, sorry..."_

"_What was that about?" Lombardo asked the detective. McLeod looked love-struck, and Lombardo snickered. "Having some fantasies already, huh?"_

"_Shut up..." McLeod growled as they reached their office._

"Krystal!" She looked up from where she was typing and saw Zelda in the doorway.

"What is it?"

"Dr. Mario might have found something odd in the crime scene photos!"

"Coming..." She saved her document and ran after Zelda to join her at the medical lab.

* * *

"I-a don't like-a this..." Dr. Mario replied. He was staring at the autopsy photos. "I-a feel as if there's something missing..."

"Yeah, the car..." Link said. "If he was killed in the car, shouldn't there be something there?"

"No, that's-a not it..."

"Then what?" Dr. Mario said something that shocked the other Smashers.

"We-a need to exhume David-a from the grave."


	6. An Album, an Autopsy and a Wrecked Car

Chapter 5 of Murder She Wrote...well, here goes something.

**Responses:**

**_Ri2_**: So many questions, but I'll answer them in order...it seemed that way at the time; yes, the chef's name is Gumbo; yes, old dudes survived the apocalypse; yes, Marianne also survived; you'll have to wait and see; and this is a cold case! Sometimes a re-examination of the body is in order!

**_Anters_**: Thanks. Your reviews help me to write better, so I try to type up something good. Oh, and yes, it's pronounced, 'Ev-lin.'

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Wait, you died from suspense? Whoa...and I'm a dude, not a girl. This is like Anters and _Amazing Race_ all over again...and I'm glad you enjoy this as much as I do! But I'm a guy, okay?

* * *

"We-a need to exhume David-a from the grave." Dr. Mario was greeted by a slew of mixed reactions. Falco just looked on with usual indifference; Zelda looked pale. Link looked as if a ghost, and Krystal was embracing Fox out of fear and cowardice. "What-a?"

"But what if we incite a ghost?" Zelda asked.

"Don't-a tell me you-a believe in-a ghosts!" Dr. Mario threw his hands up in exasperation. "There's-a no such thing-a!"

"Then what was Luigi's Mansion full of?" Link shot back.

"Oh, never you mind-a about the trivial details-a!" Dr. Mario retorted. "Wait-a, if his body was in a cemetery, and-a the apocalypse destroyed it-a..."

"Hell, that'd be a problem." Falco finished. "Someone check online which cemetery David was buried in. Meanwhile, find the car that was involved in the accident."

"My, my, aren't we becoming the bossy dude..." Krystal teased playfully as she wormed over to the computer lab.

* * *

Instead of searching, though, Krystal had opened up the dusty cover of the photo album given to them by David's parents. Flipping through the pages, she noticed many of the photos of David himself, Marianne, and several others she didn't recognize. She giggled; one of the pictures was of a cosplay David dressed as Darth Vader at an expo. Several other amusing pictures followed, along with several more of David and Marianne in kindergarten. "How cute..."

"What's cute?" Fox asked, walking up behind the blue vulpine.

"Fox!" Krystal jumped and nearly fell out of her chair. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry..." Fox just grinned crookedly. "So, what's up?"

"I thought we might find something in this photo album that could be of use to us."

"Well, that's good." Fox replied, pulling out some of the pictures. "This should help somewhat...but how? AUGH!"

"Calm down..." Krystal calmed, as Fox punched a nearby wall. "Maybe we should go outside and rest a bit; get some fresh air."

"Yeah..." Fox stuttered, shaking his hand to ward off the pain. Krystal giggled a bit, and soon Fox was caught up in laughing, too. The other Smashers looked as if they were crazy as they walked past, but Fox and Krystal never gave it a second thought. They strolled over to the entrance and walked out into the gated courtyard, teeming with trees, shrubs and an opulent fountain in the center. Around it was a driveway and the front gate of the Mansion. Fox sighed in satisfaction as he sat at the edge of the fountain, and Krystal grinned at him.

"I told you the fresh air would do you good!" Their laughter carried over to the two guards standing at the gate, serving as a sort of watchman for all that came into the Mansion. One just shook his head and turned back to face the highway, but the other lowered his sunglasses and took notice of a photo album in Krystal's hands. He decided to stroll over to see what was up.

"Yeah, you're right..." Fox replied. "I think this tournament is getting to me."

"Maybe one day we can take a vacation and get out of this place...what do you think?"

"I don't mind." Fox replied. "I've heard the Tingaling Villa at Yoshi's Island is a great tourist spot..."

"That sounds good!" Krystal giggled. "Um, Fox...you didn't piss any security off, did you?"

"No, why?" Fox was taken aback by this question and looked at her as if she was insane.

"Then what's he doing here?" Krystal pointed to the driveway, where the security person from several quotes earlier was striding up to the vulpines, and Fox looked bewildered.

"I don't think he's here for any personal score..." Fox replied.

"Excuse me...can I see that?" The security guy asked Krystal, pointing to the album.

"Well, okay, but why...?" She trailed off after the security dude, but all he did was look at the photos and laugh about them.

"Ahh, those were some great times..."

"What do you mean?" Fox asked the security officer.

"I apologize. I am Thomas McCallister. And you are?"

* * *

"So, you didn't see David the night he died?" Fox asked.

"No, not until I got the news from the cops." Thomas answered.

"Really?" Krystal asked skeptically. "I don't buy it, because from what I've heard, you had a bit of a fall-out with him six nights before his death."

"Wha-?" Thomas was rendered speechless, but then stuttered, "Yes, I-I had a fight, but that doesn't mean I killed him! I mean, he even came over to my house and helped me learn to dance!"

_FLASHBACK_

"_Ouch..." Thomas muttered as he landed on his butt for the fifth time that night, trying to master a simple waltz. "Didn't think it would be this difficult..."_

"_You're trying too hard!" David laughed. "You're making things too complicated! Try to relax as you dance."_

"_But I can't if I forget how to do a freakin' waltz!" Thomas protested._

"_There you go again, with worrying about the goddamn dance. Loosen up, will you?"_

"_I'll try, but I doubt I'll get it in time for the school dance."_

"_Just keep dancing; you'll get it soon..."_

_END FLASHBACK_

"After that, it was the last I heard of the guy." Thomas replied. "Never did get that dance..."

"So, was there anyone that he pissed off?" Krystal asked.

"I wouldn't know...his friend, Robert, did, though."

"Robert?" Fox asked.

"Robert Bramingham. He was a bit snide at David, but he was his friend nonetheless." At this point, Falco ran outside to Fox and Krystal's location, waving a paper above him in urgency. He was shouting loud enough that anyone in space could have heard him.

"HEY! DR. MARIO FOUND THE MISSING WRECKED CAR THING!"

* * *

"So, who was that you were talking to outside?"

"It turns out he's the Thomas person we were searching for." Falco was about to ask another question, but absolute silence between both vulpines convinced him otherwise. It was an uncomfortably silent walk back to the medical labs as Dr. Mario, Link and Zelda were scrambling around, carrying this and organizing that, when the Starfox troupe walked in. "What'd you all find?"

"It turns out David is buried in the Ranton Hill Cemetery in Nelson's Landing." Link reported. "And the wrecked car is at a ruined garage on a cliffside overlooking the ocean."

"Why am I not surprised...?" Zelda asked. "It's rather typical that the evidence is on a track of destruction..."

"Who cares?" Falco quipped. "We found it, so let's get 'em!"

* * *

"Careful...careful...yeah!" That was the end of a successful car-collecting mission at Nelson's Landing as the garage fell off the cliff and into the sea. Link just sighed and grinned widely. "Take it to the garage at the Mansion!"

Once at the Mansion, Link had used a small electric saw to help pry apart the mess of a car and try to revert it back to its normal form. After using various tools, like a wrench and bolt cutter, to pull apart the twisted wreck, Link sighed. It wasn't his best work, but at least the car was recognizable. He sighed and began to search. Pulling out a flashlight, he placed a UV lens over said flashlight, and did a quick sweep of the car, with no favorable results. Next he sprayed the car with some kind of chemical and used to UV lamp again, but nothing showed. He was about to quit when a glimmer under the seat caught his eye. "What's this?"

Next thing he knew, he had pulled out a large piece of crystal, part of a larger object; Link wasn't sure yet. He smirked a bit, and continued his search.

* * *

"Zelda?" Dr. Mario asked the Hylian princess as he examined David's body.

"Yes?"

"Tell-a me; what-a do you see in-a these X-rays?" Dr. Mario had X-rayed the dead man's head and stuck it in front of a fluorescent light and scrutinizing them. Almost immediately he noticed something was wrong.

"Well, let's see, there's a few bumps and bruises at where David collided with the library floor; the neck's also broken." Zelda just sighed. "I don't know what you're thinking, but it looks like he died in the accident."

"No-a, no-a, no-a... take a closer look-a at the neck." Dr. Mario pointed to where the neck was on the X-ray.

"Hmm...well, not much to report except the neck fracture is somewhat rough...what are you getting at?"

"It's-a too clean a break-a for a car accident-a." Dr. Mario noted. "It-a doesn't make sense, unless..."

"Unless he died somewhere else." At that moment, Link ran up to where Dr. Mario and Zelda was, waving a photo around excitedly. "Hey, Link. What's up?"

"I found something interesting in the car." Link showed them the photo, which was of a square made of heavy crystal. It was riddled with cracks and breaks. "I searched the car and found this. I also did a check on the car; the acceleration was broken when I finished. That's either a stunning coincidence, or it's-"

"It's-a evidence for murder." Link stared at Dr. Mario, and he explained. "The-a neck fracture that-a killed David was too clean for a car accident-a. Likely he was killed-a somewhere else."

"Okay...so that means someone killed him, figured it out, panicked, and-"

"And made it look like an accident to cover it up." Link finished. The three of them stared at each other in the quiet silence of the medical lab, soaking up the information and standing in the presence of untimely death, which was quite unnerving for them, to say the least.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fox and Krystal were having a hard time finding Robert, so they decided to drive to the Java Bean Internet café in the Grand Metropolis to relax and unwind from the stressful events of the day. Krystal just sighed and lay her head down on the table. She was about to fall asleep when Fox nudged her softly and held out a coffee to the vixen. "Thanks, Fox."

"Heh, no problem." Fox replied. "This getting to you?"

"No, I don't think so...it's just that it's so demanding, and I don't know..."

"We're doing fine, aren't we?" Fox grinned. "We're cracking this thing, and we're doing a lot more progress than the police...I think this will turn out ok."

"I hope so..." Just then, a young man with a purple streak in his hair and fashionable driving clothes strode into the café, an air of brooding intensity surrounding the man. After glancing around the café, he strolled over to an empty computer, logged in and began to type at a vigorous speed. "Who's that guy?" Fox just shrugged.

"Man, he looks rather odd, don't you think?" Next thing they knew, a pen flew over to their table. Both Fox and Krystal looked around, and they saw the young man walking up to their table. He gave his misgivings.

"I apologize for the pen; I tend to lose stuff like that when I'm-" His gaze lowered to the photo album, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Wha-? Is that...it can't possibly be...!"

"What? This?" Krystal pointed to the album, and he nodded. Fox napped his fingers as several bits of information clicked together in his head.

"You're Robert Bramingham, aren't you?"

* * *

"It's been too long since I talked about David..." Robert said. "I thought he would become a distant memory...but five years has been a while, huh?"

"Yeah. A lot can happen in that amount of time." Krystal concurred. "Was there anything interesting that happened before his death?"

"None in particular...wait, there was." Robert recalled. "I was hiding in an air shaft in the girls' locker room-"

"Hiding?" Fox asked skeptically.

"I know, I'm a pervert." Robert muttered bluntly. "Not one of my best moments in high school, I tell you..." Fox just laughed.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Slow down, baby..." Robert grinned slightly as one of the girls removed her shirt, unaware she was being watched. "This is cool..."_

"_Now where did it go...?" Searching for a lost earring, she stooped over so her butt was facing the air duct, and Robert drooled. _

"_Hell, yeah..." A loud noise caught his attention, though, and Robert averted his gaze to the locker room door. The girl finished changing and ram outside. Minutes later, Marianne stormed her way into the locker room, dragging David by his wrist. "What on earth?"_

"_I thought you said you were going to go!" Marianne yelled. "What's with you?"_

"_Look, Marianne, I'm having some second thoughts about this!" David shouted just as loudly. "I don't think my parents are going to let me have the end of this..."_

"_Who cares about them?" Marianne growled. "What about us?"_

"_I care, Marianne, but my parents are really suspicious now, and I wouldn't want to be on their bad side!"_

"_But what of the kiss we shared? Doesn't that matter to you?" Marianne was on the verge of tears._

"_I know, but-" A slap to the face ad cut off whatever he had planned to say, and David turned to the sobbing Marianne. He tried to explain, but Marianne interrupted him, saying one thing through her tears:_

"_I should kill you, making a slut out of me." She rushed out the door, still sobbing, and David followed suit. Meanwhile, Robert had suddenly gotten uncomfortable after witnessing the argument, and wormed his way out of the duct._

_END FLASHBACK_

Krystal and Fox could only stop and stare at each other as Robert continued:

"I don't know what he did to piss her off, but if she was going to dump him, I wouldn't have minded hitting it off with her." Robert stood up and left, leaving only Krystal and Fox to register their brains on this new information.


	7. Gunpoint

Ch 6 of Murder She Wrote for your enjoyment...here you go!

**Responses:**

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Oh, dear...OOPS! I miss these things while I'm typing...it should be fixed by the time I submit this chapter. And I only put in book excerpts if they are integral to the plot, hence why they've been noticeably absent during these past few chapters. Now if you just remember that I'm a dude, everything will be okay.

**_Anters_**: Don't worry, there's more of a challenge now. And thanks for the heads-up! This story will probably be completed when you get back.

**_Ri2_**: Well, the convenience ends here.

* * *

"_This looks rather promising..." Lombardo noted, looking at the Petri dish in front of him. "But what is it?"_

"_I found some dirt at the crime scene..." Lucas said. "I'll bring you the results in a few minutes."_

"_All right, thanks." Briskly walking out of the room, he nearly collided with McLeod outside the forensics lab. "McLeod. What's up?"_

"_My nerves are shot, so I'm going to the coffeehouse." McLeod tossed him a set of keys. "Wanna come with?"_

"_Only if you're paying..." Lombardo said with a smirk._

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Aah...I needed that." Lombardo said sipping at a cup of java. "That helps..."_

"_I told you some coffee would do you some good!" McLeod responded._

"_I guess you're right..." Something felt very wrong, though. It was as if something bad was about to happen right then and now. Out of the corner of his eye, someone with a Steyr TMP stepped into the coffeehouse and opened fire. "GET DOWN!"_

"_What-?" Lombardo pushed McLeod to the floor as bullets whistled through the empty air where McLeod's chest was moments before. "Holy shit!"_

"_Stay down..." Lombardo fired a few shots at the assailant and kept focus, despite the screams and havoc around them. The assailant was grazed in the shoulder and hit dead-on in the leg. He panicked and limped out of the coffeehouse. "What the hell was that about?"_

"_Someone doesn't want us on their case." McLeod muttered, brushing himself off._

"Yo, Krystal!" Fox yelled into the computer lab. "We got an interrogation to start!"

"All right, all right, I'm coming..." Krystal replied, saving the changes and shutting down the computer.

* * *

"Well, well, Marianne. You weren't all upfront about something." Krystal replied with the biting tone of a corrosive acid.

"Okay...now I'm lost..." the shy girl replied.

"You had a fight with David four days before his death!" Fox shouted.

"So? That doesn't mean I killed him!"

"'I should kill you, making a slut out of me.' Remember that, Marianne?" Krystal reminded.

"What? But David and I were friends! We would've..." Marianne trailed off as realization hit her full force. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" Fox asked. "Care to reconsider your alibi?"

"Dammit! Why didn't I see if before...that Loretta did something to set us off!"

"Loretta?" Krystal questioned.

"Loretta Fenwick. She tried to seduce David almost every day during the school year." Marianne admitted.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Hi, David!" Loretta squealed as he and Marianne were dancing. "What's up?"_

"_Well, well, Loretta. What brings you here?" David asked cordially while Marianne scowled at the little girl._

"_Are you dancing in the school dance?" she asked innocently._

"_That's what a school dance is for, right?" Marianne couldn't help but laugh at that, and Loretta got angry._

"_Come on, David. Why not dance with me?" Loretta replied, getting uncomfortably close to the young man. "I can probably do things better than Miss Lefty here."_

"_What did you just call me!" Marianne demanded._

"_I thank you for the offer, but I'll have to decline." David replied. "Marianne and I will win the school dance trophy, without your help."_

"_Fine, then." Loretta spat. "But I will be back!" She ran out the door, leaving a bewildered David and fuming Marianne in the room._

_END FLASHBACK_

"Loretta would always cause stupid arguments between both of us to try and break us up." Marianne had to giggle at that. "But she never did succeed..."

"I can see why..." Krystal agreed, holding back a few snickers. "Fox, find Loretta. See what she can tell us."

"Got it."

* * *

"So, what else have we learned about this case?" Link asked Dr. Mario and Falco.

"It's become a game of 'he said, she said.'" Falco noted.

"It-a was supposed to-a look like he-a died in an accident-a..." Dr. Mario said.

"And the suspicion falls on anyone..." Zelda added.

"So, in other words, not too much."

"Yep..." Fox had run into the medical lab and immediately seated himself in the computer, typing up a search and grumbling to himself. "What's with him?"

"He's trying to find something." Krystal replied. "We interviewed Marianne again, and she says to look for someone named Loretta Fenwick."

"Loretta Fenwick?" Zelda spluttered.

"Yes..." Krystal replied. "Do you know where she is?"

"She works at the Stylist's Heaven Beauty Salon in Nelson's Landing." Zelda explained. "She's my hairstylist."

"That was easy..." Link muttered.

"I think so also mentioned an older brother, too...named Ferdinand, I think." Zelda added.

"Okay, then." Fox said. "Falco and I will search for this Ferdinand. Meanwhile, Zelda, you and Krystal interview Loretta, okay? We'll meet back in an hour to compare notes."

"Fine..." Krystal said, pulling out a notebook and starting towards the garage with Zelda in tow. "But don't do anything stupid!"

"We won't..." Fox promised.

* * *

"Hey, Lorrie!" Zelda cheerfully squeaked upon entry of the hair salon. "What's up?"

"Well, well, if it isn't Zelda! How's life?" a woman with bizarre hair stepped out from behind the counter and shook hands with her. She noticed Krystal and asked Zelda, "...who's this?"

"I'm Krystal, Zelda's friend." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you...I'm Loretta." She then turned back to Zelda. "So, are you here to get your hair done?"

"Um...not exactly...we're here to ask you about David Clemenceau."

"Whoa...talk about a blast from the past." Loretta said. "What about David do you want to know?" She seated herself in one of the salon chairs, and motioned for Zelda and Krystal to do the same.

"Well, what was he doing before his death?"

"Nothing too noteworthy...why?"

"Was there any events that might have had a factor in his death?" Zelda rephrased.

"No, none at...wait...my big brother, Ferdinand, had fought with him over something the day before the school dance."

_FLASHBACK_

"_Whew, that was fun!" Marianne chirped after a rigorous dancing session with David._

"_Yep! I love it when we dance!" Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw Ferdinand stalk up towards them, with Loretta's protests heard from behind him. "Speak of the devil..."_

"_Son of a bitch..." Ferdinand muttered, grabbing David by the scruff of his neck and pinning him to the wall. "What did you do to Loretta now?"_

"_Well, what's the charge?" David asked cockily._

"_Don't act like you don't know. You made her cry, you little bastard..."Ferdinand growled, but Loretta tried to say something to make him stop._

"_But, brother, he didn't make me cry that badly..." Loretta sobbed._

"_Yeah, what did he do? It's not his fault!" Marianne agreed._

"_Look, can't we just talk this over like two gentlemen?" David said, trying to calm Ferdinand down._

"_Well...hmph." Ferdinand just dropped David to the floor as Marianne rushed over to see if he was wounded._

"_Brother?" Loretta's face looked at Ferdinand expectantly, but there was nothing but silence as he walked off. "Please don't do that again if you want to avoid something like that...okay?"_

"_You talk too much..." Ferdinand muttered. "Do I have to leave you behind?"_

"_Hey! Wait for me!" Loretta ran off after her brother's retreating figure, leaving David and Marianne to their business in the dance studio._

_END FLASHBACK_

"Ferdinand went a little ballistic at times, but he knew what he was doing and truly did look out for my best." Loretta told both women. "He was a good brother to me."

"Yeah..." Zelda sighed. "I guess when it comes down to it, your closest friends and family keep us going, huh? Thanks for saying something."

"You're welcome." Loretta grinned. "Now do you want a perm?"

* * *

"So, Krystal, who do you think is the murderer?" Zelda asked several minutes later at a local McDonald's.

"I don't know..." The cobalt vulpine answered. "But after that, suspicion falls on this Ferdinand character that Fox and Falco are looking for."

"Yep..." Zelda decided to steer away from that and towards something more personal. "So, did you tell Fox how much you love him?"

"Wha-! Zelda!" Krystal spluttered. "How dare you ask such a thing!"

"Hey, I'm only asking..." Zelda muttered. "But seriously, have you told him?"

"Um, no..."

"Well, I think that you should tell him right away." Zelda nodded to add emphasis to her statement. "If you don't speak a word, it's only going to get worse as time passes."

"You think so?" Krystal asked. Zelda was about to answer when a man in a black trench coat entered, hands in his coat as if he was hiding something. The vulpine gulped and hoped what she thought would happen wouldn't. "Zelda...? Prepare to duck at my word..."

"Why?" Before she could talk anymore, Zelda felt herself being tackled to the ground by Krystal. She was about the protest when the mysterious man pulled out a semi-automatic and let loose a flurry of bullets, shattering windows, scaring people, and unfortunately, killing a few others. Krystal's mouth went agape and Zelda was aghast. "Oh goddesses..."

"Shh..." Krystal warned as she somehow pulled out a P99 from thin air. She took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The mystery man felt a sharp pain in his leg and looked down as blood and water gushed forth from the wound, spilling out onto his trench coat and forming a puddle on the floor. The semi-automatic fell to the ground as the mystery man limped out the fast-food restaurant, clutching his leg in pain. Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew...thank goodness."

"Oh no..." Zelda breathed. "Some people got killed! Now what?"

"Call the cops." Krystal said, pointing Zelda towards a pay phone. "I'll get Fox over here..." She sighed and ran a hand through her locks, and only shook her head in frustration. This lunatic was getting too big for his britches...


	8. The Truth

Hmm...not many people are reading this story. AH, who cares? As long people actually read, I am happy.

**Responses:**

**_Ri2_**: Well, after this is the unmasking of David's killer, and everything will be explained then.

**_Nintendo Nut1_**: Oh yes, I will. Actually, I'll crank out a few more mystery stories like this after this is done, so keep an eye out for the mystery stories _Family Feud _and _Murder at Tingaling Villa_, my friend. SQUEE!

* * *

"Anyone know where Ferdinand is?" Falco asked as Dr. Mario skimmed over David's autopsy reports.

"No-a...hasn't Fox come-a back yet?"

"Obviously not..." Falco growled, plopping down onto a nearby stool. "I'm taking a nap...don't wait up."

"Sure-a..." No sooner had Dr. Mario said that, Fox burst into the room so quickly and so suddenly that Falco fell out of the stool in complete bewilderment.

"Fox! Where the hell have you been, huh?"

"Sorry...searching for someone on the Smash Database is harder than I thought." Fox stated bluntly. "Anyway, Ferdinand owns a pizza joint in Nelson's Landing, called the Italy Pride Parlor."

"Anyone like pizza?" Falco asked as he and Fox started to leave.

"Make-a mine pepperoni and-a sausage!" Dr. Mario yelled as they left.

* * *

"New customer, eh?" a young man said from behind the desk, his New Zealand accent nearly making his words unrecognizable. "What do you want?"

"Um, we'd like to talk to someone named Ferdinand Fenwick." Fox answered.

"I am he..." the cook replied. "What'd you want?"

"You remember someone named David Clemenceau?" Falco asked.

"Why bring him up?" Ferdinand asked. "I ain't heard that name in a while...but he was a good man. He always kept his cool, even when I would mess with him."

"So, was there anything weird that happened before his death?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, but most of the things that happened between us would have convinced the 5-0's then that I was guilty. Sure, I bullied the guy, but I didn't have the incentive to kill him!" Ferdinand racked his brains while twirling a ball of pizza dough on his fingers. "Wait a tick..."

"What?" Falco asked.

"There was a little something going down between Robert and Marianne." Ferdinand said. "It was a minor scuffle, but David got involved and things weren't very pretty. It was hysterical, though."

_FLASHBACK_

"_...and you had no right to do that!" Marianne yelled at Robert, a dark undercurrent in his voice._

"_Says who?" Robert snapped. "Who are you, to dictate what I can and cannot do? My mother?"_

"_If I hear you say that one more time, I'll..."_

"_My mother? My mother? My mother?" At this point, David strolled up to the bickering duo and watched with interest. He grinned when the two of them stared at him like idiots._

"_Hey, guys! What's up?"_

"_David will settle this!" Robert said, pointing to the young man._

"_Hey, wait a-if you're fighting, there's only one thing I can do."_

"_What is it?" Marianne asked._

"_RUN AWAY!" Before anyone knew what had happened, David broke free from Robert's grasp and started running down the hallway away from his two feuding friends, and almost collided into Ferdinand and the stairwell._

"_Yow! What the fuck-?"_

"_SORRY!" David yelled as he rushed downstairs._

_END FLASHBACK_

"That was funny..." Ferdinand laughed. "Don't know what exactly happened, but that was priceless to see David's face!"

"That sounds cool..." Falco stated. "Oh, yeah! A friend of ours wanted a pepperoni and sausage pizza. Can you make one now?" As Ferdinand started to work, his cell phone rang. "Yes, what is it?" Falco shot out irritably. His face changed drastically, and he looked grave by the end of the call. "... ... ...thank you."

"What's with you?" Fox asked.

"Ferdinand...keep the pizza here for now. Fox and I will pick it up later." Ferdinand just shrugged and stuck it in the warming oven. He and Fox walked outside, where he spilled the news:

"A gunman attacked a McDonald's, and Krystal and Zelda were over there at the time of the shooting."

* * *

"Krystal!" Fox yelled, running up to the blue vixen at the aforementioned McDonald's several minutes later. "Thank god you're safe."

"I know." Krystal chirped. "But this guy's nuts..."

"Please tell me you found something good..." Zelda asked, a little freaked out from the shooting but still in one piece.

"Unfortunately not." Fox said. "But the way the murders and the events in your book played out, I would guess it would have to be someone familiar with the Mansion...wait a minute."

"Only one who would fit the description would be Thomas." Falco blurted out at the same time. "But why did he do it?"

"Maybe it wasn't Thomas."

"Zelda, how can you be so sure?" Fox asked.

"I just trust him, that's all...besides, he doesn't look like someone who would kill anyone. I don't know why." He received another phone call, and this time it was from the Mansion. "'Ello. Fox here..."

"Fox? It's Link." His voice sounded cheerful. "I got a hit on the mysterious crystal square in the car...you'd better take a look."

* * *

"What took you, huh?" Link's eyes narrowed in annoyance as Falco and the others stepped into the small mini-laboratory that had been set up in the medical lab.

"We got held up, okay?" Falco set a pizza box onto a nearby table, and Link looked at it quizzically. "So, what's so important about us being here?"

"I decided to Google the materials in the crystal, and I found out it was made from sand, nitric acid and a bit of plastic. But I also saw something that looked like a design, and I Googled that, too." He pointed to the overhead screen and showed them the logo, a silver letter "S" enclosed within an off-white circle. "This used to be the logo of a popular skate organization in New Orleans until after the apocalypse, when it seemingly disappeared after that. The crystal I found was part of a trophy, and look at who won the most trophies in 2000 alone..." He gestured the others over to the computer screen, and Fox felt his jaw hit the floor in surprise.

"Holy crap...it was him?"

"Yep...looks like it. Guy had a record in '97 for hacking into a government database and trying to siphon off much money by changing the interest rate. He also was known as a class-B hacker, who knew how to slip in undetected. The only way to stop him was a sting of some sort, creating a false entry point and-."

"We get the point, Link..." Falco muttered, resisting the urge to tear out his feathers.

"Explains how he could breach the security firewalls here for the Mansion, and how he made my story come to life, or so to speak..." Krystal stated.

"Yep..." Falco muttered. "Just bring him in for us, okay?"

* * *

Sweat dripped from his brow as the lights shined on him full-force in the face. His leg was shaking; his eyes nervous; his hands twitching. Across the room, Krystal and Fox were staring in disbelief at him, wondering what drove him over the edge in the first place. Fox was scanning his mind for the best possible approach for this, and sighed as Krystal walked up to the killer and stared him in the eye. "I was hoping we wouldn't have to do this...but, why, Robert?"

"I didn't kill anyone." Robert stated stubbornly. "Don't you people have anything better to do than to harass people?"

"We found your skating trophy in the wreckage of David's car." Fox said. He noted that Robert looked all the more nervous. "We also know about your computer hacking skills, and how you performed those murders to try and pin the blame on Thomas."

"What? You must be kidding!" Robert yelled. "You don't have a shred of evidence that I killed anyone at all!" He winced, and Krystal looked to see a bandage wrapped tightly around his leg.

"Nasty wound you got there. Where'd you get it from?"

"Oh, just some construction accident-ow!" Before he knew it, Krystal had torn off the bandage and saw a bullet hole in his upper leg. She almost smiled as she pulled out a bullet casing from his leg, covered in blood and muscle tissue.

"Whoa...that proves you were the shooter. That's the exact spot I shot at the gunman to stop him from killing anyone."

"Care to revise your story, then?" Fox taunted. "We have you anyway, Robert. If not us, the system then."

Robert looked at them both and scowled. "Why couldn't you leave well enough alone...he found out something I never wanted out...I had to shut him up somehow..." His face was now full of sadness and remorse. "But I nevermeant to kill him..."

_FLASHBACK_

"_Huh...that's good." Robert was piling stuff into his locker, slammed it and started towards the stairs when he quite literally ran into David near the stairwell. Papers and books flew everywhere and littered the concourse._

"_Sorry about that!" David grinned. "Didn't see you there, Robert...what the?" He looked at one of the papers, and his happiness dissolved into disbelief. "Dude...this is the teacher's exam! What the hell are you doing with this?"_

"_Look, it's just a little test..." Robert laughed nervously. "You won't mind, and the teacher wouldn't mind. End of story."_

"_That's not cool; that's bogus!" David growled. "You'd better find some way to return that, or-!"_

"_Look, man! My grade's dropping , and my parents are going to evict me if I don't improve, okay?" Robert stammered. "Just let it slide on this one, okay?"_

"_I don't believe this..." David muttered. Robert looked at him, and David's eyes were full of disappointment. "I thought you were a guy with some mettle...but I guess I was wrong. Look, this is for your own good." He started to walk down the steps of the university's hallway, but Robert was stuttering complaints._

"_No! Don't! You don't know what will-STOP!" Before he knew what he was doing, he had picked up a nearby book and hurled it hard at David. Robert was aiming for his head, but a minute later a snap was heard as David crumpled and fell down the rest of the way, his neck broken from the force of the book. "Oh, shit...David? DAVID!" He ran down to his friend's corpse, and feeling no pulse, he broke down into a convulsive sob. "Sorry, bud..." He then noticed the car keys in the dead man's hand, and he almost grinned. "No one will have to know, bud...no one."_

_Minutes later, he had snuck into his dorm and left with a skating trophy, heading fro David's car. After positioning it on the hill above the library, he posed his friend's corpse as if he were driving, left the keys in ignition, and stuck the trophy onto the acceleration. Robert just watched as the car crashed into the tree, sending David flying through the window. He took one last glance before running off, back to the university._

_END FLASHBACK

* * *

_

_The wise man said just walk this way_

_To the dawn of the light_

_The wind will blow into your face_

_As the years pass you by_

_Hear this voice from deep inside_

_It's the call of your heart_

_Close your eyes and your will find_

_The passage out of the dark...

* * *

_

Krystal just shook her head in sadness as Fox slapped on a pair of cuffs on Robert, who was sobbing as they carried him to the car. Link, Zelda, Falco and Dr. Mario also looked on, their faces showing indecipherable reactions except for one: disbelief and sadness.

* * *

_Here I am_

_Will you send me an angel?_

_Here I am_

_In the land of the morning star...

* * *

_

Minutes later, with case box in hand, Krystal and the others walked up to the police department in Nelson's Landing, paparazzi and the press hemming in closely for a better shot of Robert. Among the faces were Marianne, who looked on with tears in her eyes; Thomas, who showed signs of disapproval; Loretta and Ferdinand, who just looked on with casual indifference; and Evelyn and Kennedy, who was just in shock as anyone.

* * *

_The wise man said just find your place_

_In the eye of the storm_

_Seek the roses along the way_

_Just beware of the thorns...

* * *

_

As Krystal looked around languidly, at a nearby bench in the city park, she thought she saw David sit there and flash a goofy grin, one that seemed to heal even the most wounded of souls. Marianne noticed this too; her eyes teared up again as she smiled back. Krystal watched this exchange and almost laughed, but when she turned to look at the bench no one was there...

After the arrest, Krystal was glad to hand the photo album back to the parents of the deceased and gave the case box to the police, with one minor change: the word CLOSED scrawled atop the lid of the box.

* * *

_Here I am_

_Will you send me an angel?_

_Here I am_

_In the land of the morning star..._ –Send Me An Angel, Scorpions (David Clemenceau's theme)

_**FIN

* * *

**_

Well, there's my finished attempt at a mystery. Sorry if it seemed so crappy (hence the low reviewer turnout), but the next mystery story will be **much** better, I promise! Farewell to all for now!

Gamer21


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